“Indeed.” Alpha nodded. “And we can’t be absolutely sure that no other dog crept out of camp, either. Let’s make sure we treat all dogs as innocent until we have proof of wrongdoing.”
“Agreed,” said Lucky, and Twitch growled his agreement, too. “In the meantime, I must lead another hunt.” His eyes were bright and his tail high with what looked like anticipation. Puzzled, Storm pricked up her ears. Was this more than a normal hunt? What was her Beta up to?
“This is an important hunt,” Lucky told his group of dogs as they gathered at the edge of the clearing. “And not just because we need prey. I want you all—every dog—to get used to working together. We can’t pick and choose who we hunt or patrol or fight with, and I want you all to understand that. We have to be able to rely on one another.”
Storm studied the other members of the hunting patrol. Bruno was a former Leashed Dog, one of Lucky’s original allies. Breeze and Whisper had been in Terror’s Pack. Snap had been a longstanding member of Sweet’s Pack, since well before Sweet rose to Alpha. And she and Arrow were Fierce Dogs, but only one of them had called Blade their Alpha. Storm understood Lucky’s motives in selecting dogs of every Pack, but she couldn’t help feeling apprehensive about how it would work out in reality.
As she followed Lucky into the forest and toward the hunting meadows of Twitch’s old territory, she became aware that Arrow was keeping close to her shoulder. It was natural, she supposed— Fierce Dog sticking with Fierce Dog—but it seemed to go against Lucky’s whole purpose. And it made her irrationally twitchy.
Silly, she thought, when I’ve just been defending Arrow to Lucky, Alpha, and Twitch. All the same, she deliberately veered to the side, trying to detach herself gently from his company. The other dogs mustn’t think Fierce Dogs can only befriend each other!
Avoiding the company of Arrow, though, only brought her too close to Whisper. His eyes lit up in his gray-furred face as she edged closer to him, and she forced herself to gaze firmly to the front. Please don’t start, Whisper, she thought. I don’t need another round of hero-worship. . . .
Storm found herself so wrapped up in avoiding both Arrow and Whisper, she was surprised when Lucky came to a halt. The hunting meadow opened up ahead of them, sunlit and promising, and Lucky licked his jaws, looking satisfied.
“I think we’re going to have good hunting today,” he told them in a rumbling growl. “There have always been rabbits here. Let’s sniff them out. Cautiously, now. We don’t want to alarm the prey.”
Spreading out as they padded silently into the field, the dogs buried their snouts in the long grass, scenting deeply for hints of small creatures. Storm narrowed her eyes and flared her nostrils. There was definitely something here: a trace of rabbit, certainly, but it was overlaid with something stronger and more recent. Closing her eyes altogether, she let the scent drift deep into her nasal passages.
Her eyes sparked open. “I think there’s a deer!”
Arrow turned expectantly. Whisper darted over to her, ahead of the others, his tongue lolling with enthusiasm.
“Really, Storm? Where?”
“Sniff and you might find out.” Arrow rolled his eyes and buried his own muzzle in the damp grass.
“You’re right, Storm.” Lucky’s ears were pricked high with anticipation. “I don’t think it’s the same scent I followed before, but it’s definitely a deer.”
All of Storm’s worries fell away as a buzz of excitement tingled through her blood. “Could it be the Golden Deer?”
“Let’s follow the scent and find out.” Lucky’s eyes brightened, and he trotted off in pursuit of the trail. “Fan out behind me, and make sure I stay on track!”
The dogs did as they were ordered, Storm staying close to Lucky’s haunch. The Beta seemed in no danger of losing the trail, and the scents didn’t deviate or take any unexpected turns. As the hunt patrol reached the far edge of the meadow, the odor of deer was stronger than ever.
Storm raised her head, her nostrils full of the promise of deer flesh. A thin line of scraggy birches lay in front of them, but there was no thick, dark forest behind them, only more open fields. Beams of sunlight picked out a slender, long-limbed creature browsing the grass beneath the trees.
Every dog went stock-still, nose lifted. Storm could feel her heart pounding her rib cage, and for a moment she was afraid the deer would hear it. The Sun-Dog’s fiery light surrounded the grazing creature in a glow of gold, and Storm’s breath caught in her throat.
Is it the Golden Deer? I don’t detect that special scent, like before, but maybe . . .
Lucky flicked a glance over his shoulder, and dipped his head to the other dogs, but despite his silent caution, the deer’s head jerked suddenly up. Storm saw its large ears flicker with alarm as it froze, staring in their direction. Then it spun and bolted, crashing through the undergrowth.
“Go!” With that, Lucky was hurtling after it, his hunters at his heels.
Storm raced after him, her paws flying. The belt of trees was narrow but the deer knew how to use them, doubling back and darting and dodging, slowing down the less-nimble dogs. The others were falling back, despite their baying howls of determination, and even Storm stumbled as she changed direction and almost crashed into a tree trunk.
Lucky, though, was running faster than Storm had ever seen him. His paws were quick and his body was agile, and he twisted and swerved almost as fast as the deer. In fact, she realized, he was leaving them all behind. Grimly she pounded on, trying to cut across the deer’s path at a wider angle, but it burst from the trees and fled across the next expanse of meadow. Lucky was only a rabbit-chase behind it.
Storm raced in pursuit. She could hear the rest of the hunters following her, but she couldn’t spare the energy to glance back. The field sloped down at a low angle, and it was covered with yellow-and-white flowers; the deer was so swift its hooves seemed to fly across the lake of blossoms. The creature was still bathed in the pale golden glow that had surrounded it in the trees. It almost made Storm’s eyes sting.
She blinked, and the deer had vanished.
No!
There was Lucky, still running hard, and Storm picked up speed to gain on him. The glowing deer was nowhere to be seen, but as they bounded down the steepening slope, they saw something else.
It didn’t glow, and it didn’t hurt Storm’s eyes, but it was undoubtedly another deer. Its pelt was deep russet, and it was grazing contentedly at the farthest border of the meadow.
Lucky slithered to a halt so suddenly, Storm almost tumbled over him.
“Quiet,” he growled, crawling forward in the sheltering grass.
Panting as silently as she could, Storm shuffled on her belly till she was alongside him, and together they stared at the unwary creature. A fully grown female, it ripped intently at the grass and flowers. Its ears flicked lazily back and forth, but so far it hadn’t spotted them.
The rest of the hunters were behind them now, and luckily they too had noticed the deer in good time. They dropped to crouch low in the grass as they crept forward to their leader. Arrow slunk up to Storm’s shoulder, and Snap positioned herself on Lucky’s other side.
“What now, Beta?” she growled quietly.
“We’ll circle it. Widely and carefully.” Lucky’s eyes were narrow with concentration as he watched the deer. “Snap, take Whisper and make your way upwind of it, to the sundown side. The rest of us will approach from the other direction. When it runs from your scent, we’ll be there to intercept it.”
The dogs began to slink into position, placing their paws delicately, keeping heads, ears, and tails low. With Bruno and Arrow to one side and Lucky to the other, Storm eased forward, trying hard not to disturb so much as a blade of grass.
They were so close now, she could hear the rip and crunch of the deer’s blunt teeth as it grazed. Storm tried to quiet her excited breaths.
A movement at her side made her turn her head. Bruno was starting to rise, and Arrow too was lifti
ng his paws to pace forward.
No! They’ll scare it too soon—
Then she saw a dark brown shape move swiftly between the two dogs to nudge their flanks. Breeze, she realized. Thank the Sky-Dogs. She must have realized they were about to ruin it. Bruno and Arrow sank back to their careful stalking positions.
Lucky’s ears were quivering with alertness now, and the tip of his tail was flicking. He crawled forward again, one pace and then another. They were so close now, Storm’s head felt full of deer-scent. Drool gathered at the corners of her jaws.
Abruptly the deer started, its head flying up. But it wasn’t looking at them, Storm realized; it had smelled the approach of Snap and Whisper from upwind.
Spinning on its delicate hooves, the deer sprang to flee, but Lucky gave a sharp bark and leaped for its raised throat. Storm and his other hunters were right behind him, and the deer had nowhere to go. Panicking, it tried to jump clear over them, but Arrow’s jaws found its hind leg and dragged it down. The dogs pounced, dodging its wildly kicking limbs, and Whisper and Snap joined in, bearing the helpless deer down. In a few short moments, the hunt was over.
The dogs stood over their prey, panting with the sudden exertion, but their eyes glinted with triumph. We’re a team, Storm realized with a flush of delight. That worked perfectly, because we worked together. Snap sat down to lick her haunch; Arrow stared happily at the deer’s corpse. Whisper couldn’t repress a wuff of excitement, and Bruno nodded, licking his chops.
Storm’s pleasure faded a little, though, as she stared back at the deer. Its pelt wasn’t golden at all, not even in the Sun-Dog’s warm light. The short fur that shifted in the breeze was russet-red, flecked with tawny, and scarlet where the deer’s throat was stained with blood.
Lucky nudged her questioningly. “What’s wrong, Storm? That was good work from us all.”
“It’s not a Golden Deer.” She sighed. “I really thought we had one this time.”
“So did I.” He licked her ear. “But it doesn’t matter. I think there was something special about the first deer, the one we saw in the trees, but this one wasn’t it.”
“I know. Where did it go? I was so sure we had it.”
“Storm, we may not have caught the Golden Deer, but I think the Wind-Dogs were looking after us all the same. Didn’t that deer lead us straight to this one? I’m not going to complain, that’s for sure.” Lucky’s tongue lolled with delight and he flicked his ears. “Every dog will have a full belly tonight, even Sunshine and Moon!”
“That’s true.” Storm felt instantly cheered by the thought that Moon would be able to share in the Pack’s luck, despite her ongoing punishment. “Let’s get it back to the camp, then.”
Rising to her paws, she sank her jaws into the deer’s foreleg, but then cocked one ear and hesitated, releasing it.
“Beta. Do you hear that?”
All the dogs were on their paws now, looking nervously at the sky where it met the line of the trees. There was a low humming, which quickly became a clatter, and then a subdued rattling roar. Faint black shapes rose above the horizon.
“Loudbirds!” yelped Whisper.
“We’re in the open!” barked Lucky. “Every dog under cover, now!”
“But the deer—” began Snap.
“We can come back for it. Right now we have to hide!” Lucky sprinted for the edge of the meadow as the racket of loudbirds swelled and their shadows grew larger.
There’s no time to get back to the trees, Storm realized with a moment’s panic. And they would be seen for sure if they crossed beneath the path of the loudbirds. . . .
“There!” barked Snap, and veered to the side, heading for the meadow’s corner.
Storm saw at once where she was heading: a large patch of twisted scrub that grew thickly against the edge of the meadow. All the dogs turned to race after Snap, and they plunged one after another into the prickly thicket, cowering down against the earth. It wasn’t the best cover, Storm realized—the tangled branches barely came as high as Arrow’s ears—but it would have to do.
She strained her eyes upward along with the other dogs, and they watched with their breath in their throats as the loudbirds roared over the meadow. The first great monster turned, swept low, and hovered, its wings a blur. It was so close, Storm could make out the longpaws crouched in its belly.
“Will the loudbirds roost here?” Whisper’s hoarse voice trembled.
“Quiet!” snapped Lucky in a growl.
Shamed into silence, Whisper pressed himself closer to Storm. She could feel his muscles trembling against her flank, and she wanted to flinch away, but she had no choice but to lie still. All she could do was clench her jaws and bear it.
“I feel much safer with you here,” he whispered.
Bruno, behind Storm, grunted dismissively. “You’ll be safe if you don’t draw her fangs in your direction.”
Her irritation at Whisper’s clinginess faded abruptly in the face of Bruno’s snide disdain. I should be furious at that remark, thought Storm miserably, but all I am is sad. Does Bruno really think I killed that fox-pup?
Perhaps they all think that, deep down . . . perhaps some dogs will never trust me at all. She wanted to whimper her misery.
“You’ll never hurt me,” murmured Whisper, as if he’d overheard her unhappy thoughts. “You don’t put the Pack in danger—you protect us!”
“That’s nice of you to say, Whisper,” Storm muttered, “but—”
“It’s true,” he insisted. “You killed Terror, and freed us from the tyranny of the Fear-Dog! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for what you did.”
Does he have to go on about it? Storm turned her face away from his adoring eyes. Breeze, on her other side, twitched one ear, but said nothing.
They’ve all noticed, Storm realized grumpily. He’s getting embarrassing.
The relief, when the loudbirds rose away from the meadow and their clattering noise faded at last, was overwhelming, and Storm found herself sighing out a huge breath. At last she could squirm away from Whisper and emerge into the clear air, stretching her muscles.
Beside her, Lucky pulled a jagged twig out of his tail fur with his teeth. He shook his fur out vigorously, then turned to them all.
“That was a close one,” he said with feeling. “Now let’s take turns dragging that deer back to camp. That way no dog will get overtired.”
Panting with relief, the dogs of the hunting party followed their leader. Storm felt anticipation rise in her again, along with a more cheerful mood. It would be good to get the enormous prey back to the Pack, and to hear their barks of respect and appreciation.
She bounded to Lucky’s side as he came to an abrupt halt. He was staring at the ground, and for a moment Storm couldn’t understand the shock in his eyes. Then her heart plummeted.
Snap trotted up beside them. “What happened to the deer?” she whined in confusion.
“I don’t understand.” Bruno stood behind them, bewildered. All the dogs fell silent as they gathered around Lucky, and they all gazed in disbelief.
Where the carcass had lain, there was now only a patch of flattened grass, and a drying stain of blood.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A breeze rustled through the meadow, stirring the grass where the deer had lain, teasing the dogs with its lingering scent. Lucky shook his head slowly.
“What happened to it?” he growled in confusion.
Whisper crept timidly to Storm’s side. “Maybe it wasn’t really dead?”
“Is that it?” Bruno frowned. “Maybe it got up and ran away while we were hiding.”
“No,” said Lucky with certainty. “Prey can be clever, but not that crafty. A deer couldn’t lie there playing dead. It would have panicked long before we abandoned it.”
“Some other creature took it, then,” said Snap grimly.
“Could it have been the longpaws?” Storm was hesitant even to suggest it, but she could think of nothing else. “Maybe t
he loudbirds landed and we didn’t notice.”
“Or they just picked it up in their talons?” Arrow cocked his head, bemused.
“Maybe that’s it.” Lucky couldn’t tear his eyes away from the empty patch where their prize had lain. Storm could almost smell his crushing disappointment.
“I know,” suggested Whisper. “The deer must have got up again, like the Golden Deer does every New Leaf. Isn’t that what Alpha said they do?”
“I think you might have a point,” growled Bruno, and Breeze gave a nod of agreement.
“No,” snarled Storm, and every dog turned to look at her in surprise. “That’s nonsense, if you ask me. That wasn’t a Golden Deer, it was a normal one! Whatever happened here, there’s a much more ordinary explanation.” She turned to glare at them all, lashing her tail in frustration. “But it doesn’t matter, does it? All that matters is that we don’t have any prey for the Pack!”
A nagging hunger nipped at Storm’s belly, and she turned over where she lay, stretching out her legs and glowering at the walls of her den. Was everyone else having this much trouble sleeping? No dog had eaten well, after all: a few mice, two voles, and a skinny squirrel had made up the entire prey pile this evening.
Her inner question was answered quite unexpectedly when a commotion rose suddenly outside her den. Storm pricked an ear and raised herself up on her forepaws. She could hear angry barks and snarls, and bitter voices of accusation.
Oh, Sky-Dogs help us, she thought irritably. What is it now?
Scrambling to her paws, Storm ducked out of her den and stalked toward the knot of quarreling dogs in the center of the clearing. At least, she’d assumed it was a quarrel, but as she drew closer, she could see it was a very one-sided one; Breeze, Bruno, and Dart stood around Arrow, snarling, their hackles bristling. Arrow could only turn warily, eyeing each dog in turn and keeping his jaws shut.
Alpha squirmed from her den as more dogs appeared. The swift-dog’s belly looked heavier and rounder than ever, as if her flanks could barely contain the growing pups, and there was exhaustion in her dark eyes. Lucky hurried to her side, then turned to bark to Twitch, who was hobbling closer.